You’re looking at the Cactus Press-Plaza Paint Building-a splash of old-school flair right along your route. Built in 1927, this unassuming spot is a bit of a unicorn in Yuma: the only poured-concrete commercial building on Main Street with a single-story arcade. If you were a shop owner back in the Roaring Twenties, you’d have wanted your business under the shade of those graceful arches. Not just for the Spanish Colonial Revival style-the look was stylish and practical, keeping shoppers cool before air conditioning was a thing.
Picture the original construction crew, sleeves rolled up, working concrete in the Southwest heat for about $10 a day-which, if you’re curious, is roughly $165 in today’s dollars. Pretty good money to leave a literal mark on the town. Today, this place is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And given how quickly other arcades disappeared, this one’s a bit of a survivor-a walk-through snapshot of how folks did commerce in dusty desert towns.
When you’re ready, you’ll reach Brown House (Yuma, Arizona) in about 2 minutes walking west.
